Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I took the opportunity of the (almost yearly) counting activity to open all the boxes and deploy my Russian Army for parade... Pictures are not so bright (I'm no good at this), but I hope you'll enjoy.There are figures of many different makes, from Minifigs to Essex to Fantassin and AB. Single soldiers on round bases are my skirmishers (some of them were used to playtest SDS...).I think I painted just less than 50% of there figures (but I surely rebased them many times :)A close-up view on some of my line infantry battalions with greatcoat. These are the first painted miniatures I bought, possibly from a friend in Bologna.OK next time.... Austrians!Stay tuned.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Some pictures I could not resist to post. Real masterpieces IMHO. Above, a Bologna Guard of Honor of the Italian Guard.A British Light Dragoon a Dragoon and a Royal Horse Guard...A wonderful French General Fournier....And finally a Guard Uhlan. Front Rank Miniatures painted by Tommaso Nicosia.

I think Andrea did a good job.... I like it.Editing started, and I am finishing the italian text. We would like to release both version at the same time if possible.It will take some more time, but I hope that - as promised - the game will be available well before Christmas.Your comments will be highly appreciated.

At last tournament in Perugia, Max brought a Swedish squad as his second choice. We all were very curious about his miniatures and I asked him to send me some pics.Above is a front view of the infantry, with Officer, NCO, drummer and standard bearer, below a Dragoon wearing the typical blue-yellow colors of Sweden. Miniatures are 25mm Eagle Games.

Infantry from behind (in gray a light infantryman). Miniatures were painted by Tommaso Nicosia. More pics of soldiers painted by Tommaso will follow soon... and thanks to Max!

No sleep at Ganesha Games: 61-65 is just finished and I started working to close the Large Battle project. As I wrote in previous posts, it is a long project I started some 2 years ago, and modified many times before the current version. Above and below, a pic from last friday playtest (sorry pics are a bit dark..): a clash somewhere in Spain just before the Battle of Talavera.

Drums & Shakos Large Battles allows you to command a Division (or more, if you have time and space :) and it's another step forward in Ganesha Historical System. In a few months (DS LB could be released early 2011) Napoleonic Era enthusiasts should be able to play from small skirmishes (SDS) to Divisonal level games, passing through Company level (61-65 adapted): all with a single rules engine.

Command and Control and Combat systems are 100% new and - as far as my 25 years wargaming experience says - innovative. I'm working hard to give players a game that can be played to a conclusion in about 2 hours, still giving all the feel of this wonderful period.I am very proud of the Combat system (it's like a small movie of the attack), which is divided in Approach and Contact and gives results that are quite rare in other wargames: in DS LB you can win a charge suffering heavy losses, or lose your position but inflicting a lot of damage to the enemy.

Basing is free (and in any case the one we suggest is one of the more common for the period), there is no individual casualty removal, nor caps. As it is common in all Ganesha games, there are really few markers, and game is fast and quite furious: we want things to happen on a Battlefield, and progress from turn to turn be visible. Individual units are Battalions (Infantry), Regiments (Cavalry) and Batteries (Artillery). Skirmishers rules are simple but effective.Follow this blog, and more details will come....

I am proud to announce that 61-65 is finished.Andrea added the artwork and now is working on the cover - while text goes out for editing.I really like the layout, fonts and illustrations and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

I have added a new feature to the blog: an SDS scheduled Tournament list.It is on the left sidebar, below the games' covers. I hope it will be useful for those players looking for a quick update (instead of searching through the blog for a date).

A lot is happening in the Italian wargames world.In three weeks, from march 20 to april 3, 2001 three important events will take place: sunday, march 20th there will be an SDS Tournament in Milan, organised by XI LEGIO club, saturday and sunday march 26-27th in Modena the Convention PLAY2011 will be held (18000 visitors in last year's first edition) and within it the "Wargames Olympics" competition. Finally on april 3rd there will be the Con HELLANA in Agliana, where SDS was awarded the "Best of Show" prize two years ago.

Tournament in MilanAt last we succeeded. The friends of XI Legio were able to reserve the hall for the first SDS Tourney to be held in Milan. This is a great occasion for all player for the North of Italy to take part in a SDS tournament. More details will follow about this, in the meantime thanks to Stefano for the efforts in organizing the event.

PLAY2011The Convention was lauched last year with an astonishing success of visitors. It is an "all about gaming" event, with Boardgames, CCG, RPG and of course wargaming.It is co-organised by the club Treemme from Modena and by the Tana del Goblin (Goblin's Lair) and this is a warranty for a great gaming experience.Within the Con, the organisers are staging the Wargames Olympics: tournaments of many games with gold, silver and bronze medals for the participants.SDS will be one of them. International participation is warmly welcome, and I encourage all readers of this blog to ask me question if interested in participating.

HELLANAThe week after (april 3rd) there will be the one-day show in Agliana Con (Pistoia, Tuscany) , where Ganesha games will have its demo table as the last 2 years. There will be no SDS tournament at Hellana (that's too much for me too :) but the event is a sort of tradition in the italian wargame community since many years as it focuses ONLY on wargaming.

Feel free to ask me any question about the events and - as usual - stay tuned.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The game is finished and translated, we are playtesting the 3 scenarios that will be included in the book. I've added optional rules for cavalry and artillery, and "Sgt. O'Reilly says" (some basic hints on play coming from the FAQ I've received during the demos I did).Next steps will be adding art (Andrea is already working on this), have it edited and then.... we'll release it. I'm doing my best to have it out around mid-december.

So Marco won the Grand Slam (4 tourney, 4 victories) but he lost the 4th match against Filippo, so his final score in this Championship is 15/1 (won/lost).Final position for the whole Championship are:

Friday, November 12, 2010

Above, a pic of my Rifles squad (Royal Americans). These are miniatures I bought painted and based (that's why they have square 2cm bases..).Two views of part of Filippo's new Rifle squad (more pieces are coming..): Officer, NCO, Bugler and 2 Riflemen (Harris? Hagman?). Filippo is converting some miniatures to represent Sharpe and Sgt. Harper.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

As promised, here are some pictures of the wonderful table made by Stefano Palandri at Lucca Games. It was a very useful playtesting for my "61-65" company level rules applied to napoleonic. Above, Stefano crossing the bridge with his French attackers.The French approaching the village, with skirmishers in front. Two British squads and some Spanish Guerrillas try to stop the French advance. The terrain (hand painted by Baueda - http://www.baueda.com ) was really beautiful: a 180x240 cm. flocked-tissue representing typical dry, spanish landscape.A view of the village. Stefano did really a good job and the buildings are astonishing (Grand Manner). Scale is 28mm.British reinforcements (with a Rifleman in front and a Sergeant behind) advancing into the streets of the village. Stefano correctly based his soldiers on 2,5x2,5 cm. square bases, so that formations could be kept easily.The fight in the village goes on, while some French cavalry (Dragoons) crosses the bridge ...

A close-up on the Spanish Guerrillas (Front Rank) trying to stop the French onslaught.And finally a close-up on French grenadiers (Perry) in supported line formation. Note also the nice flock and grass on the bases. Great job Stefano!!

Friday, November 5, 2010

The 4th (and last) 2010 Italian Tournament of SDS will take place in Perugia in 9 days now (see my previous post about this).Even if the National Champion has already been crowned (Marco Gasbarri from Arezzo), both the FIW League title and the fight for the 2nd and 3rd place are still open.The Con MAGNA CON PHERSU is a 2 days event that is steadily growing and offers several other games, demos and a bring and buy. I will hopefully be there on saturday also, to show my ACW company level game "61-65".

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Back from the 4 days show in Lucca, I post some pictures (courtesy by Roberto) of a demo of 61-65 I made the first day. More pics to come soon...The weather was terrible: we had very heavy rain for 3 days (and some water flowing into the pavillion on sunday), but nevertheless some 135.000 people came to Lucca for the dual event. It has to be said that most people come for Lucca Comics (one of the biggest comics event in Europe) but they visit the Games area anyway, and that is good. The problem is that this army of visitors seems to be overwhelming for the show structures..Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the first demo on friday:

I made a very basic scenario with 4 squads Companies, a Captain and a Lieutenant. Happy to say that even people not used to play SDS got the game basics in few minutes and played well, as it happened at Origins 2010.Now I have to finalize the Army lists and a couple of minor details (hope to be ready for December).In another demo area, Stefano Palandri from Agliana prepared a giant Company level napoleonic scenario in 28mm. It was a clash in a spanish village between British infantry (helped by some Spanish Guerrillas) and a Company of French Line with some Dragoons. I'll post the pics here as soon as possible.